Nemiroff Family Story

You might recognize the boys in this family from earlier this year. I got an email message a few weeks ago from Dave that he and Jenny wanted family pics with little Grady. The little guy recently turned one, and has changed so much!! They drove up to Santa Barbara to meet with me, and we had a great time walking along Cabrillo. It had been a super warm day, and I thought it was going to be too hot....but it ended up being just perfect across the street from the water.

We started out at Chase Palm Park, and made our way down to the rainbow arch. Grady was a great sport, even with all the walking that we made him do!! :)

Dave - it was great to see you and Grady again, and to finally meet Jenny too!! Hope you like your family story!










For more of this family, watch the slideshow!

Back to the norm in SB

Got in real late last night from Florida....went home and straight to bed. Intended on sleeping in, but I was wide awake around 7, closed my eyes, but up again from a text message around 745am and then the sprinklers at 830am. I finally got out of bed and had some coffee with my roomies and chilled around the living room with them for a bit.

LB was headed to the farmer's market to get goodies for tonight's Good Spoon event, so I decided to tag along with her. I just love all the colors of the fruit, veggies and flowers at the market. I LOVED the huge tomatoes there today. Each one that she bought was a pound each - whoa!!!


I went to meet Brett for lunch at The Habit in the afternoon. It was a pretty day, and while Brett wanted to work some more on what he'd started the night before, I convinced him that we needed to be outside on such a pretty day.


He had a plan for us after lunch. First stop was to wash my car - thank goodness!!! Then we went back to my place and got our bikes. We had left Brett's truck at lunch, so we rode back down to them from my place. It was a nice ride....all downhill. :)

We got a call from DJ that he needed a truck to pick up a few finds at the Carp Market. After meeting up with them, we then had game night and Chinese food that night at DJ's place with a few friends.

We played Taboo....love that game. Brett and I make a pretty good team. :) It was a fun relaxing Saturday after being away!!

Just a "Booth Babe"? I don't think so!!

We had another great day on Wednesday in Florida. Albert and I drove down to Port St Lucie, and then back up to Orlando. Hit a few storms, and saw a lot of shopping outlets. Seems that if you want to shop, Florida is the place to do just that. :)

On Thursday, we had the trade show. I'm used to being in booths...I did plenty of trade shows when I was at Dell working with Altiris. This one was a huge, and the booths were a little bit more extravagant than what I'd seen in the past. Here is what Albert and I set up!! :)


After the first round, we had to stop and get some refreshment. For one reason because it was so hot.....but second, we needed a little caffeine rejuvenation! :)



We were there all day on Thursday and then for the wrapping up on Friday. Albert did a great job of sending pictures back to SB so our web designer. So, we were almost live blogging from the show. For more pics, check out here!

I talked to a lot of great people....and it was a good show. BUT....I am SO ready to get home!!! The long days starting at 6am, ending after 10pm.....are a little too much for me!

Started out low.....ended on a HIGH!

I woke up extra early this morning (630am) to be sure that I gave myself enough time to get ready before meeting Albert downstairs at 745am.

It was a good thing I did. First thing that happened to me was the water in my room wasn't getting hot.

!!!!

Um....what??? I called the front desk, and they sent up engineering. He came, and after another almost 10 more minutes of the water running, it finally got hot.

While I was waiting for him, and the water, I went ahead and ironed my pants. The iron left a stain on the pocket of my pants.

As I finished getting ready, I kept waiting for the 3rd bad thing to happen. We all know that bad luck comes in 3s. I guess if I had to pin it down....Albert didn't get downstairs until 8....but I knew that was going to happen, and that was why I said to meet at 745. We needed to leave by 8. :) At least he laughs at this because he knows it's true.

We made it through 3 appointments today. They were all great in their own way. In typical sales days like these, we didn't get a chance to eat lunch between meetings. It wasn't too terrible since we DID the chance to grab a snack at breakfast or I would have been gone by this afternoon.

I got back to my room around 630 and did a demo call and then my day was finally over. Albert and I stuffed ourselves on a late dinner, and then I got back to my room.

I called Brett and filled him in on my day, and then he went to make some dinner for himself.

A few minutes later, I got a knock on my door. It was after 10pm, so I asked "Who is it?". The person on the other side said, "Delivery.".

I opened my door, and one of the hotel staff handed me this.


This is the best surprise.....EVER. I had NO idea Brett had done this. I was even so busy when I called him for about 2 minutes earlier in the day that I didn't even think to wonder why he had asked me where we were staying.

I never thought that flowers would make me smile so big. I love the flowers, but it's not even them that is making me smile so much. It's all Brett. HE makes me smile. So, even though my day started out not so great....it definitely ended on a high!!!

What takes 12 hours and a LOT of John Mayer??

My trip to Orlando today.

4am Wake Up
445am Brett took me to the airport
6am Flight from Santa Barbara to Denver
10am Flight from Denver to Orlando
4pm Arrive Orlando
6pm Arrive at hotel

It was the longest day. Traveling isn't that much fun, especially when you have to get up at the crack of dawn, and travel from one coast to the other. John Mayer got me through the plane flights...his music is SO relaxing to listen to while on a plane.

I'm here now. For the entire week for work. Won't be too much other than counting down the time until Friday at 639pm when I get on a plane to head back home.

PS. It's hot and humid here. Ick.

Big Bear Lake

Brett and Autumn started planning a few months ago to surprise their parents for their 40th wedding anniversary. We told them last time we were in Vegas to not make any plans, and that we'd be taking care of the rest.

Friday after work, Brett and I started driving towards Big Bear Lake, as the folks from Vegas did the same. We got there around 10 on Friday night, sat around, hung out, caught up, and got all unpacked into our cabin.

The next morning, we could see what a beautiful place we were staying!! We could see the mountains and the zoo right from our balcony!! So cool!! Rob cooked us a yummy breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast and potatoes!!

We ate up so we'd have energy for what the day had in store for us.

Our cabin was a really pretty wood with green trim. The entire place was decorated with everything you've ever seen that had either moose of bears on it. My favorite thing in the house was the huge oversized stuffed bear at the bottom of the stairs. This is what "they" probably meant by bear hugs.

First stop.....the Moonridge Zoo. It was filled with animals that had been rescued in the area. Possums, skunks, foxes, mountain lions, bears and so much more. We had a great time looking at all of the animals. I really wanted to jump in the cage with Milo, the snow leopard, and cuddle. He was so cute!!

Next stop was the Alpine Slide! I don't think I went nearly fast enough, but it was still a lot of fun. More fun, however, was watching Loralyn enjoy herself! She's so much fun to hang out with!

Loralyn and Pa rode the gokarts afterwards. Loved that they were in the Pink #7 car!!

We came back to the house and ate a super yummy lunch!!!

After lunch, we watched the rest of Bolt. I really loved that movie. I totally understand why Loralyn has watched it more than 50 times now.

We decided to take a dip in the hottub that was on our deck before the sun went down. What a view, huh?

I cooked up Kara's favorite Rotel King Ranch Chicken recipe for our dinner. We had TOO much food!!!

After dinner, we played Mad Gab. We were in hysterics while playing!!

Rob cooked us up another yummy breakfast on Sunday morning before we packed up the house to get ready to leave. We weren't sure what we were going to do for the rest of the afternoon, but after a few options, decided to have a picnic lunch on the lake.

It was super windy, but we found a great spot off North Shore Drive.

Daisy joined us for our picnic and enjoyed sunbathing on her very own beach towel!

We hung out for a little bit longer before heading back to our respective homes. We had a great weekend celebrating family and love!! Happy Anniversary Bruce and Betty.....here's to many more wonderful years together!!

Week 33

Did you know that it's the 33rd week of the year?? Emily is mildly obsessed with everything 33...which why shouldn't she be? It IS an odd number after all. She realized that this is the 33rd week of this year (oh my gosh, where has 2009 gone??), and therefore it's destined to be a good week.

I had a wonderful lunch date with Christi this afternoon. Surprise, surprise, I took her to Anna's Bakery. I know, I know....I need a new spot, but I'm going to frequent this place until they start to recognize me. Ha!! It was great to catch up with her after a while. She's been traveling, and I'm about to be on a whirlwind few weeks myself, so it was great to spend some time together!

This afternoon, one of my favorite women in the world, Laura, gave birth to her triplet girls!! Emma, Mia and Zoe were born this afternoon. All weighing over 5 pounds too! I just can't stand that I'm not there to be with her right now, but I cannot WAIT to meet them all in a few short weeks!!!

I just snagged this picture off Andrew's Facebook. Can you just tell how amazing Laura is!?!??! Look at that big huge smile and those adorable babies!!?! Oh my goodness....my heart is just overflowing with JOY!!


On my way home from work, I learned that Camille got approved for her loan for her business, and so I met up with her, Emily, Ashley and another friend at Hungry Cat for a little celebration!! I'm so excited for Camille's business and her upcoming trade show for new websites of 2009!! Goooooooo Camille!!! Woohoo!!

PS. Yay for iPhone self portrait...but BOO for my hand being a shadow in the picture! Oops!!


Afterwards, I came home to join some great happy girls for dinner. Laura made us dinner, straight from the garden again, and the 5 of us sat around and were girls. I seriously love having such wonderful friendships with girls. We were made for this. Wonderfully made for this type of relationship. We smiled so much for each other's lives that I think our cheeks are going to be sore tomorrow.

We ate yummy salad, veggie pizza, and had chocolate for dessert.

Perfect.

37 Years

My parents were married 37 years ago today. August 19th, 1972.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

I went into my photo archive and pulled out a few from their first year of marriage. While it's kind of strange to think of my parents as anyone other than my parents, it's fun to see pictures of them when they were newlyweds....just the two of them.....younger than I am now.

I think they were pretty cute back then.

They're still pretty cute.

Food, more food, and some Josh Garrels

It wasn't the best morning at work. I often wonder how I can have such high and low swings at work all in the same day....but then I remind myself that I am in sales....and that's just how it goes.

So, after a pretty bleak morning, I was thrilled that Emily came to meet me for lunch. We were planning on going to the beach with our food, but it was too overcast and chilly, so instead, we enjoyed ourselves inside at a table for two at Anna's. Not a surprise on the venue, I know. I did, once again, get something new....and oh my goodness, it was so yummy!!!


I finished up work, and came home to finish reading my book. It was the easiest book I'd read in a LONG time...finished it in 2.5 days. It was a silly, mindless, book, but I needed that.

Vanessa and I met at Milano Italian Kitchen in 5 Points for a bite to eat before the evening plans. Laura and Brett came to meet us before we all headed over to SBCC.


Kyle had worked to get Josh Garrels to Santa Barbara to put on a show for the fine folks here. There was quite a crowd, and Josh put on a really neat show. His music is totally different and refreshing. It was wonderful to hear his spin on traditional Christian music. Kyle ran the merch table too....he was so proud....as we were proud OF him. ;)


Brett, Bethany and I stayed to help be sure that everything made it out of there, and got to chat with Josh a bit about his music, travels and life. He's got a neat story. If you're so inclined to check him out, do it here.

One of these things is not like the other

Had dinner tonight at the Bath House. Emily, Amy, Christianne and I had a great time eating and chatting it up like girls.

At one point, we realized that there is a whole lot of Texas here in Santa Barbara. Amy was the only one not from the great state of TX. :)

It's OK though...we didn't hold it against her. We love her just the same. :)

Thanks to the Bath House girls for another wonderful meal!!

Food

It was a great relaxing Sunday. We went to church, prayed for Reality London, got some food from Cantwell's Deli and then just sat around and did nothing. Brett watched some golf.....I took a nap. Wonderful Sunday afternoon.

To finish off the great day, I stopped by the BBQ happening at Kyle and Suzy's place on my way home, and enjoyed the company there for a bit.

Good, good, times.


Came home and started to read a book. It's been way too long. It was so good that I got almost 100 pages in before I turned in for bed.

Yellow Umbrellas

Nothing planned for today...which is wonderful, because after this weekend, it's going to not slow down for about 3 weeks. So, we met for a yummy brunch at Cafe Shell.

I love that you can sit out front of the restaurant, right on the sidewalk of State Street....under the yellow umbrellas. I think yellow of anything just makes me happy.


Yummy food. Why is it that I almost always end up getting the pancake breakfast with eggs and bacon? Maybe because it's always a good choice.


Nothing planned at all for the rest of the day. Here's to lazy Saturdays. Hope you're enjoying yours!!!

A little bit country....right here in California!

We headed south for the Ventura County Fair tonight with Amy, Emily, Kyle and Suzy. Clay Walker and Lee Ann Womack were playing a concert, and so we decided to check it out.

Too bad we weren't considered Super Seniors....we could have gotten in FREE.


As soon as we walked in, I had to keep reminding myself that I was in California and not at the Austin Rodeo. It had the same feel. There was all sorts of the typical carnie food.....Brett and I ended up with a tri-tip BBQ Sandwich. It wasn't too shabby.

Once we got into the arena area, it felt like Texas. I hadn't experienced country music anywhere else really, and the other crowd folks were really into Clay. He put on a great show for the bit that we got to see....but the people in front of us might have stolen the show. They were a little too entertaining....so much so that it was a tad awkward, but the show was good nonetheless.

Gotta love some fun shots.....had such a great time with this group of people!! Love!! More Love!! :)

Between the two shows, the camera man was having fun scanning the crowd. We'd talked about how everyone always looks for themselves on the big screen, and then as soon as they're up there, turn away. Not 10 minutes later....look who showed up on the big screen....it was US!!! This is a picture of me taking the picture below. Too funny.

Lee Ann came up next.....in the shortest dress ever. It was so short that we couldn't stop commenting on it. We're also pretty certain that she might be pregnant, but luckily none of my blog readers are connected with the gossip columns....I would hate to start rumors.

She is a great singer....and I remember a summer when I listened to her and a few other women country singers almost exclusively...but I realized last night that most of her tunes are pretty depressing. And....it's also pretty hard for someone that just sits up there and sings to be very entertaining....BUT she was still great, it was just more of a sit down, instead of stand up and shake a little, kind of entertainment.

After we'd had enough of Lee Ann's drinking songs, Brett and I took a stroll through the fair. The rides in small fairs like this are so crazy...and we resolved that they are really just puke machines. They just spin you, shake you, and make you sick.

I do love the lights, the sounds and the smells of the funnel cakes from fairs though. Walking through it all holding hands with the one you love....that's a good night.